Vincent Bonsignore

Columnist

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Columnists

Maybe it’s a good thing Deon Hollins and his UCLA teammates can’t shake the pain of that miserable afternoon last November, let alone rid themselves of the nasty taste that still lingers in their mouths.Maybe the mental breakdown the Bruins suffered against Stanford and the resulting beatdown the Cardinal dropped on them is a necessary evil component to UCLA finally taking the next step as a perennially elite program.Maybe having all their goals, all their...

Football

If you need a visual capturing the National Football League rumbling across the field back to Los Angeles, just picture a quarterback sitting in the pocket scanning his downfield options.To his left, the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders and their joint...

Sports

The lump in my throat felt like an Olympic-sized shot put. And the tears welling up in my eyes might as well been swells rumbling through the open ocean.It took all the power I had just to keep myself together.And yet, I can’t remember ever feeling so unabashedly, uncontrollably happy.How could I not?My adopted country men and women from The Netherlands’ Special Olympics team had welcomed me with high-fives and hugs and smiles as we lined up to...

College football

The good news is the Rose Bowl this season falls on Jan. 1 and is a Pac-12 vs. Big Ten matchup.Yea for tradition!The bad news is, if you are a fan of UCLA or USC or any of the other Pac-12 teams — and your goal is national championship or bust — the Bruins or Trojans playing in the 2016 Rose Bowl will actually be a letdown.Because...

Sports

There isn’t a better place to craft a rebirth than under the bright lights of Hollywood, which is why Roy Hibbert and the Lakers could turn out to be a match made in basketball heaven.In a town where redemption for any A-lister’s flop is always just the right script and right director away, Hibbert is in the perfect place to get back on his feet.He arrives in Los Angeles coming off a string of disappointments with the Indiana Pacers, for whom he was a two-time...

Columnists

When the Clippers’ wild, crazy, head-spinning summer train pulled into the Staples Center depot Tuesday, a head count was in order.Mostly, to make sure DeAndre Jordan didn’t jump off somewhere in the middle of Texas and wind up with the Dallas Mavericks.But there was Jordan, safe and sound, front and center and still very much the anchor of a Clippers team that...

Football

OAKLAND — When it comes to the National Football League returning to Los Angeles, the elephant in the room is impossible to ignore.With a tip of the cap to legendary broadcaster John Facenda, the elephant’s face is weather-beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head and a bristling black mustache.And he scares folks old enough to remember the last time the Raiders called Los Angeles home and how their games at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum...

Sports

The Oakland Raiders are one of three teams vying to potentially relocate to Los Angeles — perhaps as soon as 2016 — pending new stadium progress in Oakland and the navigation skills of the National Football League, whose 32 owners might soon decide who gets the golden ticket to Los Angeles.There are two Los Angeles-area stadium plans on the table. Both are viable, entitled and well thought of within the league.The Raiders have joined forces with the San Diego...

Lakers

LAS VEGAS >> The entry pass reached Jahlil Okafor on the left block, one of the go-to sweet spots from which he typically carves up opposing big men. As he’s done so many other times before, the 6-foot-11 Philadelphia 76ers lottery pick turned to square up his defender. Three options were available: Power drive to his left or right for a layup. Or...

Sports topics

LAS VEGAS >> As initial steps go, this was a doozy.Gathered on one stage just off the Las Vegas strip you had the next Lakers superstar making his professional debut, a matchup between the first two overall picks in the NBA draft, the long-awaited return of Julius Randle and the first glimpse of the talented backcourt the Lakers hope will lead them to their next dominant era.And it all played out in front of a packed Thomas & Mack Center filled primarily with